Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Indian Feast (& a question for you)

Last night I cooked up a nice little Indian feast and had my family over for some Indian food & a slideshow of some of my photos from my trip to India. It ended up being quite a weekend - with my dad in the hospital for 3 nights (with what - luckily - turned out just to be an ulcer)... and a variety of other busy-ness... so I took a few shortcuts with dinner. My dad's okay now, thank goodness. I sure love my dad!

First, add the sugar and the water together in a small pot. Bring to a low boil over medium heat, stirring often, and then simmer until the sugar is totally dissolved and the mixure is totally clear, 3-5 minutes. Remove the sugar syrup from heat and allow to cool. While that's cooling, juice up all your limes.

There are two ways of serving this. In India, when you order this drink, you get a glass with about 3 tablespoons of lime juice in it. Separately, you get a bottle of club soda. And finally, you get a little pitcher (like a creamer) with sugar syrup in it. This way, you can adjust the ratio of lime juice:sugar syrup:sparkling water just to fit your tastes. So you could serve it up this way, with 3 Tbsp of juice in 4 big glasses and that would be very fun and authentic. Or, you could do what I did, and just make a big lemonade pitcher's worth - and leave out the sparkling water and extra sugar syrup in case people want to adjust it to their tastes. It's so good!

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the cumin seeds, and a second later, add the asafetida. Stir once, add in the chilies, ginger and turmeric. Stir and fry for 30 seconds. Add the cabbage and salt. Stir, cover, and cook for 4-5 minutes - or until the cabbage is beginning to soften. Add the lemon juice, coconut, ground coriander, cilantro, and peas. Stir and fry for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve. The cabbage should still be slightly crunchy. Serves 4 as part of a bigger meal.

The parathas were just heated up from some frozen parathas that I bought at the Indian grocer a while back. They are so yummy! The samosas are from our wonderful little South Indian restaurant called Jumping Monkey. My mom picked those up on the way over (thanks Mom!). Their samosas are so delicious, and also they are baked instead of fried - but still very yummy. Also they come with a super good tamarind chutney. Then, I made a batch of the Red Lentil Dal from the PPK. Have you ever made this?? It is SO FREAKING GOOD. It's one of Musty's and my most favorite things to eat in the whole world. You gotta try it. For 10 people I made a 1 1/2 recipe, which worked out great. Don't be a fool - make this dal now!

In all, I took about 1000 pictures in just 5 1/2 weeks in India. Whoa! I'm some kind of freak for my new camera... plus India is just full of beautiful, fascinating sights to capture. Also, I have a special line of greeting cards that I started last time I went to India. All the profits from the cards go to charities working in India. So, I was also taking tons of pictures hoping to find some new designs for my greeting cards. Here are a couple of my favorites. This one is from a temple, where each little alcove had a mural inside depicting scenes from the life of a Hindu deity.

I love this wierd picture, which I took at a different temple. This is an ash pit, where people were using the ash to mark their foreheads with the tikka. I love the finger lines in the ash, the smoky burning incense, the marigold offerings, the bright gold pigment, and the sweet little butter candle with Ganesh's head on it.

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Update:

I also have a question for you all. A week from today, I am taking off for 9 days in China. (what a jetsetter!) I'd like to cook up a few meals for my grandpa, that I can freeze and my aunts can heat up for him - so that they don't have to cook for 9 nights in a row. I'd love any thoughts on meals that freeze & reheat well... Help!

Second the lasagna idea. I've had good luck with most soups as well. Also pizza, calzones, pot pie and any other dishes with a crust or pocket. Curries (such as chickpea spinach) as long as they are not coconut milk based.

Also, I love that red lentil dahl as well! Which does freeze well also!

oh wow, everything looks so good! I love the red lentil dal recipe, too, and thank you for the cabbage and peas, I'm always looking for more curry + cabbage things to do. As for frozen meals... you could make up a batch of burritos or calzones?

Whenever I go home I make a big batch of VWAV veggie burgers. I usually make the recipe and then scoop out the mixture into a muffin tin. I freeze the uncooked burgers in the muffin tin and then put the frozen burgers in a bag. When my father is ready to have a burger he just has to take one out of the freezer and pop it into the oven. Hope this helps.